Good Night From II

You have a '15?? How did u swing that....and that's what I'm looking forward too is mpgs like that...I asked the lease lady how the evo and t680 compared expecting that the evo was better and she said she thought the kenworth was better even had some that were averaging over 9 mpg.....

 

I got this T680 when I graduated from mentor orientation at the end of June. I'm a company driver. I guess I'll be in line for a brand new truck each year as a mentor.

When I ran on the Marshall's dedicated team my teammate also noted that as a company driver he got a new truck each year. In his case it was always a Freightliner.

Before joining Swift I'd always driven KW's, Pete's, and an old Ford cabover (going waaayyyyy back). Getting into Freightliners at Swift I really enjoyed how quiet they were and how easy to drive with the hydraulic clutch. I've driven a total of seven trucks now with Swift, four were Cascadias, two were T900's, and then this T680. Of the lot I'd pick a T680 in a heartbeat. Fuel efficiency is every bit as good as the Cascadias, it's as easy to drive, and there has been absolutely NO problem with batteries running dry when I don't idle. I'll be curious to see how it handles in snow and ice.

 

.... p.s. on this current load, with 0% idle time, I'm averaging 8.9 mpg. 15K load originated in Charlotte, NC so I chewed up some fuel by the time I reached Knoxville running through the Appalachians (I think it was around 7.8 mpg at that point for the trip). For O/O's that can avoid heavy loads I think getting around 9 mpg is reasonable, certainly expect 8.5 mpg for light loads and little to no idle time on flatter ground.

 

Petro off I-10 in El Paso, 10 miles to final then over to Socorro picking up one to Minooka, iL

 

At home, deliver in Tolleson early tomorrow then a Costco load to Vegas.

 

I've run mine until it derated the engine. This was when I first went solo; for some reason, I thought that company drivers could only get DEF at a Swift terminal...

At home for my 34; the last time I was here was mid-August. Parked the truck (bobtail) behind the house with 2 minutes left on my clock. And when I say a 34, I mean a 34... 35 hours will put me late for my pickup on Tuesday.

 

At first we could only get DEF at a terminal, unless we paid for it and submitted the receipt (after getting a PO for it) for reimbursement.
Then, finally, they let us do it at our fuel stop.

And we've been told that we can add fuel and DEF to the amount of gallons authorized for that stop. So if authorized for 60 gallons we could do, say, 50 in fuel and 10 in DEF.
But I recently put in the entire amount of fuel, and then also filled my DEF tank.

 

I'm in position on this Walmart delivery in Ottowa, KS. I ran from the TA in Concordia, MO starting at 2:00 am, stopping at a Walmart west of KC, then stopping at the Edwardsville terminal, thinking I would shut down for a 10 before heading to Ottowa for a 3:00 pm delivery...

... then I realized that was a boneheaded move. I'd be fighting outbound rush hour from KC. Better to push on to Ottowa. I then sat there in the parking lot and did a Mac-30. Nothing. I did a Mac-22 to push out the delivery for Ottowa and did another Mac-30 and immediately got a single offer. I then walked in to talk to the weekend/night dispatch to see more details on the load:

Drop and hook with two live unloads in Lincoln, NE for tomorrow morning.

I let the dispatcher know I have a home call and if that's the best they can do, or whether this might be a reposition to catch a long haul home like the last time I had a fiasco getting out of Edwardsville (I didn't quite put it that way). She said, "It's nearly impossible to get any long haul loads headed west out of here because we run shuttles."

That confirms it. If I ever need to run west I'll never accept another Edwardsville load again.

 

This all news to me as a Company guy. Gonna have to have a chat with my DM. I'm still fooling around writing comchecks for DEF. Hate not being kept informed of this kind of stuff by my terminal.

 

Doing a 10 in London KY for a live unload at a grocery DC a couple miles away.

Finished my live unload in Ft Wayne. Fought the trailer for 20 mins to get the tandems to move then had to blindside into an unlit dock off a narrow side street. Earned my money on that one.

While getting unloaded was was sent a ppln drop n hook at Campbell's Soup in Napoleon OH to London KY with live unload at 3am. Their loads are all heavy and I ended up with another POS old 5-series trailer with tandems as hard to move as my other. Batting zero on decent trailers this week.

Was as trying to get to the Gulf Coast for hometime on the 1st. This junk load ensures that I won't. Too short and too much time. Be lucky if I get down there by the 2nd. No ppln behind this one. So far I am not impressed at all with the new magical "hometime policy". Planner ignored my request for a stack to get me there. Still smells like the same ole same ole